Winter arrived, and within the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace in beijing, the cold air was biting. Two Kuli came to the brazier, preparing to add charcoal.
"Add less, your majesty is not cold," the nineteen-year-old great ming Chongzhen Emperor zhu youjian said lightly. It wasn't that he wasn't cold, but that he felt the pinch of silver. This emperor was famously frugal; imperial charcoal was expensive, so cherish every piece added!
"Your Majesty, for the sake of all the people in the world, you must not let your imperial body get cold!" Seeing him so frugal, the great eunuch wang chengen on the side wiped away tears in distress.
"My great companion, your majesty is truly not cold," zhu youjian smiled. People feel refreshed when good things happen, and his heart was naturally warm. First, sun chengzong reported that the Ming Army had recovered the four cities of yongping; then, Hong Chengchou, Governor-General of the Three Borders, reported that the Rebel Army that had troubled Shaanxi for many years had been "pacified".
Looking at these memorials, zhu youjian sighed in his heart: your majesty has finally not failed my brother's heavy trust! When the tianqi emperor zhu youjiao was on his deathbed, he lay on his sickbed and said to me: "My brother should be a yao and shun." At that time, I was extremely fearful and said: "Your Majesty speaks these words, your subject deserves ten thousand deaths!"
He constantly encouraged himself with his brother's entrustment. Immediately after ascending the throne, he took down the powerful eunuch wei zhongxian with lightning speed, and also appointed a group of great scholars to govern the country. With upright officials filling the court, scholars across the land all said that with a sagely emperor in power, the great ming's revival was imminent. And it was indeed so! Soon came the news of the "great victory of ningjin", followed by sun chengzong's victory report on the recovery of the four cities of yongping. But what delighted him most was the memorial from Hong Chengchou, Governor-General of the Three Borders, reporting the "pacification" of the Shaanxi Rebel Army. It truly was a sign of revival!
This Shaanxi Rebel Army had troubled the great ming for several years!
In recent years, the weather was cold, droughts were frequent, and harvests were poor, especially in the northwest and the Central Plains. Yet the additional land taxes did not decrease, causing hardship for the people. In the third month of the seventh year of tianqi, Shaanxi suffered a severe drought. zhang douyao, the Magistrate of chengcheng county, disregarded the lives of the starving people and still pressed for taxes, squeezing the people dry. The people were destitute! That day, wang er, a starving person from baishui, gathered hundreds of farmers who could not survive to discuss. He didn't waste words and directly asked the crowd loudly: "Who dares to kill the Magistrate?" Everyone answered in unison: "I dare to kill!" Thus, wang er led the starving people into the county town, killed zhang douyao, and unveiled the prelude to the peasant war.
Subsequently, various places in Shaanxi responded. There were over a hundred large and small Rebel Army groups, such as wang jiayin from fugou, wang daliang from hannan, gao yingxiang from ansai, and Zhang Xianzhong from mizi. Desperate peasants, deserters from border garrisons, and disbanded postal workers merged and rose in rebellion. Shaanxi was ablaze with beacon fires everywhere, and even over a thousand border troops mutinied due to lack of pay and rebelled. Because of their high mobility, these Rebel Army were called "roving bandits" by the qing dynasty.
Seeing that the Rebel Army had become a prairie fire, yang he, Governor-general of the three borders of Shaanxi, suggested to the emperor to "combine suppression and pacification, with pacification as the main focus". zhu youjian was a benevolent ruler and agreed deeply, issuing an imperial decree: "The qin rebels are spreading, although due to lack of harvest, it is ultimately because of greedy officials and indebted commanders who do not care for the military and the people, and arbitrarily exploit them, leading to their displacement and becoming bandits. From now on, civil and military officials in the border areas should all be selected based on talent and appointed, and must not be allowed to evade responsibility or merely fill positions. As for the matters of combining and separating officials and soldiers, the Ministry of War shall secretly supervise the Governors and viceroys, and suppress and eliminate them as appropriate."
The method of pacification was good! Most of the Rebel Army were originally good people who rebelled only because they could not survive. If they had enough food, very few would be willing to do such a head-losing job. As Governor-general yang used appeasement, a large number of Rebel Army were pacified, including the great bandit shen yikui.
If the pacification had continued, there would naturally have been peace under heaven. However, the qing dynasty's finances were strapped, and the national treasury had no silver. Many Rebel Army, after accepting pacification, did not receive effective resettlement and rebelled again. That great bandit shen yikui "rebelled" just one month after being pacified. zhu youjian was enraged upon hearing the news, ordered the arrest of yang he, exiled him to yuanzhou, and replaced him with Hong Chengchou, the Governor of yansui who advocated suppression, to serve as Governor-general of the three borders of Shaanxi, demanding that the Governors and viceroys of Shaanxi "encourage the generals and quickly plan for suppression and pacification".
This Governor-General Hong was a ruthless person. As soon as he took office, he abandoned "combining suppression and pacification, with pacification as the main focus" and changed it to "strengthening pacification with suppression, first suppressing and then pacifying", concentrating forces to attack the Shaanxi Rebel Army.
Under Hong Chengchou's vigorous suppression, the Rebel Army from all routes in Shaanxi had to leave Shaanxi and move their battles to shanxi.
Shanxi? That was the business of the Governor-General of Xuan Da, and had nothing to do with the Governor-general of the three borders of Shaanxi. Thus, Hong Chengchou submitted a memorial to the Chongzhen Emperor, claiming that the Shaanxi Rebel Army had been "pacified". As for the shanxi Rebel Army, Governor-General Hong chose to forget.
The young emperor was tricked by the cunning Governor-General Hong, and kept praising him for being capable, a pillar of the nation, and a pillar of the family and country. When people encounter good news, their hearts feel warm, and they don't even need to add charcoal.
Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, the holy land of the Gelug Sect, three Great Monks were secretly plotting.
These three people were not ordinary. One was the "joyful monk buddha" (incarnation of guanshiyin bodhisattva), Living Buddha of the Three Great Monasteries, the fifth Awang Luosang Jiacuo of Lhasa; one was the "moon-like ink buddha" (incarnation of amitabha), Living Buddha of Tashilhunpo Monastery, the fourth Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen of Shigatse; the other was the leader of the Gelug Sect, Living Buddha of Ganden Monastery, the Ganden Tripa. As the highest level of the Yellow Sect, they held religious authority. The Ganden Tripa is held by a highly learned monk, with a term of seven years. Normally, he has no political power and mainly presides over major events such as the Lhasa great prayer festival attended by various sects, but when it comes to major religious matters, this highly learned monk still participates.
"Two masters, our sect is in peril now, please make a decision," he spoke anxiously. Although he said "two masters," his gaze was fixed on Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen.
"Yes, master, please make a decision," the fourteen-year-old Awang Luosang Jiacuo also looked at Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen. The two lineages of masters are mutually master and disciple. In this generation, the fifth Lhasa is the disciple of the fourth Shigatse, hence the term "master".
Since the Mongol Khan lin dan batu "abandoned faith", the Gelug Sect's days have not been easy. This common ruler of the Mongol not only instigated some tribes in mo nan and outer mongolia, but also sent Choktu Khong Tayiji of Khalkha Mongol to attack and plunder qinghai province.
This Choktu Khong Tayiji was very fierce, massacring the Oirat Mongol tribes in qinghai province who believed in the Gelug Sect everywhere. Whether they were khoshut, Dzungar, Dörbet, or Torghut, if they refused to pay him taxes, they would be slaughtered by him. The main force of the Oirat Mongol had already migrated west, and there were not many tribes left in qinghai province. Under the fierce attack, they either surrendered or fled. Soon, Choktu Khong Tayiji occupied most areas of qinghai province and called himself Qietu Khan.
A powerful enemy appeared on the northeast border of the Gelug Sect, coupled with the Tsangpa Khan of Shigatse in the west, the bali tusi of Kang District in the east, and the Mongol lin dan khan, a "great alliance" was forming. Qietu Khan and Tsangpa Khan even openly boasted, the situation was unprecedentedly perilous.
An enlightened high monk, no matter how anxious, does not show it on his face. The sixty-year-old Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen had long cultivated himself to the point of being undisturbed by honor or disgrace. At this moment, he actually showed a smile, "I heard that namkha jiamtso, the adopted son of Baibagas Khan, has achieved success in studying buddhism. It is time for him to return to Oirat."
